Cardinals prospect Carlos Martinez, who was invited to major-league camp to show one of the best arms in the system, had his work visa approved Tuesday, a Cardinals official confirmed Wednesday morning.

Martinez has missed all of spring training as a result of the delay getting the necessary paperwork to leave the Dominican Republic.

The Cardinals expect Martinez to report to Jupiter, Fla., hopefully within the next week. He'll take part in extended spring training before heading to his assignment. The Cardinals original plan was to get Martinez some exposure during major-league games and then have him join the Class AA rotation to start the season.

He'll likely go to Class AA's rotation eventually this season.

Martinez has been able to work out in the Dominican, but he did not start the standard throwing program because his visa was delayed for so long with no indication from the government when it would be approved.